1. I greet with affection all of you who have come to Les Combes to share with me in our customary Sunday gathering at the Angelus.I warmly thank the Mayor of Introd and those who work with him for their courteous welcome, as well as the regional and provincial Authorities and all those who are ensuring that during these days my collaborators and I enjoy a peaceful stay among the charming mountains of the Valle d'Aosta.

1. I feel in my heart the most profound gratitude to God for the recent visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His Holiness Bartholomew I, to whom, together with his highly qualified entourage, I have had the joy of offering hospitality at the Vatican in these days. Together, we celebrated the feast of the holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, commemorating the historic meeting between our venerable Predecessors, Paul VI and Athenagoras I, which took place 40 years ago in Jerusalem.

1. The Church is celebrating the feast day of theHoly Apostles Peter and Paul: the fisherman of Galilee who first professed faith in Christ, and the teacher and doctor who proclaimed salvation to the Gentiles (cf. Preface). Through the design of divine Providence they both came to Rome where they suffered martyrdom within a few years. From that time, the city that had been the capital of a great empire was called to a very different glory: to be the home of the Apostolic See that presides over the universal mission of the Church to spread throughout the world the Gospel of Christ, Redeemer of humanity and of history.

1. The day after tomorrow, 29 June, we will be celebrating the Solemnity of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. On that happy occasion I will have the joy of welcoming to the Vatican once again His Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. We intend to commemorate together thehistorical encounter between our venerable Predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I, who exchanged an unforgettable embrace of brotherhood and peace in Jerusalem. This happened during the pilgrimage there of the Servant of God Paul VI in 1964, while the Second Vatican Council was under way.

1. Last Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the last of the great liturgical feasts after the Easter season which constitute many wonderful embodiments of the Christian mystery: the Most Holy Trinity, the Body and Blood of Christ and, precisely, his Most Sacred Heart, "source of life and holiness", "our peace and reconciliation" (Litany of the Sacred Heart).

1. Today, Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, is being celebrated in Italy and in other countries. It is the feast of the Eucharist, the sacrament in which Jesus left us the living memorial of his Pasch, a central event in the history of humanity.

1. Today, in Italy and in other countries, is the liturgical Solemnity of the Ascensionof the Lord, which shows how the humanity that Christ assumed and redeemed was raised by him to full communion with God.